Rights groups call for restraint, dialogue after mass killing

Karina M. Tehusijarana

The Jakarta Post

Jakarta /
Fri, December 7 2018 / 12:27 am

Time of loss: Indonesian Military personnel load coffins into a carrier aircraft in Wamena, Papua, on Thursday. Indonesian security forces have retrieved the bodies of 16 people in the aftermath of a massacre of construction workers claimed by separatist rebels in the restive province, the military said on Thursday.(AFP/Staf Steel)(AFP/Staf Steel)

Time of loss: Indonesian Military personnel load coffins into a carrier aircraft in Wamena, Papua, on Thursday. Indonesian security forces have retrieved the bodies of 16 people in the aftermath of a massacre of construction workers claimed by separatist rebels in the restive province, the military said on Thursday.(AFP/Staf Steel)As the government looks to respond to the killing of civilians in Nduga regency, Papua, for which an armed separatist group has claimed responsibility, human rights activists have called for restraint in order to stop the cycle of violence plaguing the region.

National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto confirmed on Wednesday that 19 civilians and one Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier had been killed by an armed group linked to the Free Papua Movement (OPM).